Medieval Times (C. 500 A.D.-1500 A.D.)

The Dark Ages Begin

Rome's control of the land around the Mediterranean and large parts of Europe, made it one of the worlds largest empires. Unfortunately, once the Roman Empire fell (476 AD), the land they controlled became a very dangerous place to live without government and law to protect its citizens. These unsafe times ushered in an era known as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages is often characterized as a time of war, disease, and a regression of learning. The Dark Ages is seen as a time of CHAOS, which lasted nearly 300 years and is a precursor to the Middle Ages.

MEdieval Europe and Vocab

As the Roman Empire fell, various groups from the north and east moved into former Roman lands. As they moved in, these groups created their own states. The rulers of these states, usually powerful warlords, began to call themselves kings. These kings often fought among themselves. As a result, by the early 500s Europe was divided into many small kingdoms.

The creation of these kingdoms marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, a period that lasted from about 500 to about 1500. We call this time the “middle” ages because it falls between ancient times and modern times. Another name for the Middle Ages is the medieval (mee-DEE-vuhl) period, from the Latin words for “middle age.”

Christianity: Monks & Missionaries

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, many of the kingdoms of northern Europe were not Christian. Christianity was only common in places that had been part of the Roman Empire, such as Italy and Spain. As time passed, however, Christianity slowly spread farther north. This spread was largely through the efforts of two groups of Christians—missionaries and monks.

Perhaps the most powerful force that helped spread Christianity into northern Europe was the pope. Over the years, many popes sent missionaries to teach people in northern kingdoms about Christianity. Missionaries are people who try to convert others to a particular religion. Some missionaries traveled great distances to spread Christianity to new lands. For their devotion to Christianity, many missionaries were named saints. Saint is a religious title given to people famous for their holiness.

While missionaries traveled to spread Christian teachings, men called monks were equally dedicated to their faith. Monks were religious men who lived apart from society in isolated communities. In these communities, monks spent their time in prayer, work, and meditation.

Communities of monks, or monasteries, were built all over Europe in the Middle Ages. Even though they lived apart from society, monks had a big influence on Europe. Monks performed many services, both inside and outside of monasteries. Monasteries sometimes provided basic services, such as health care, that were unavailable to many members of their communities. The poor and needy would arrive at a monastery and the monks would give them aid. In addition to giving aid to people in their communities, monks

- ran schools & copied books for those who couldn’t read or write - collected and saved ancient writings from Greece and Rome - served as scribes and advisors to local rulers

CHARLEMAGNE and The kingdom of the Franks

As Christianity was spreading into northern Europe, political changes were also taking place. In the 480s a powerful group called the Franks conquered Gaul, the region we now call France. Under a ruler named Clovis, the Franks became Christian and created one of the strongest kingdoms in Europe. As strong as the Franks were under Clovis, they had yet to reach their greatest power. That power would not come until the late 700s, when a leader named Charlemagne (SHAHR-luh-mayn) appeared. Charlemagne was a brilliant warrior and a strong king, and he led the Franks in building a huge empire.

To build this empire, Charlemagne spent much of his time at war. He led his armies into battle against many neighboring kingdoms and conquered them. By the time he was finished, Charlemagne’s empire included all of what is now France. It also stretched into modern Germany, Austria, Italy, and northern Spain.

Charlemagne, a Christian king, had conquered parts of the former Roman Empire. For that reason, on Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans. This title symbolized a return to the greatness of the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne didn’t spend all of his energy on warfare, however. A great admirer of education, he built schools across Europe. He also brought scholars to teach in his capital at Aachen (AH-kuhn), now in western Germany. Among these scholars were some of the greatest religious scholars and teachers of the Middle Ages. Their teachings helped shape religious and social life in Europe for centuries.

Vikings

The Vikings were fierce pirates from Scandinavia. The Vikings raided Britain, Ireland, and other parts of western Europe. They looted towns and monasteries and took prisoners to sell into slavery. The attacks were swift and savage often called "Lightning Attacks", and Europeans lived in terror of Viking raids. Because Vikings could sail their ships up rivers, their raids weren’t limited to coastal areas. The Vikings also reached inland cities and attacked cities in the Iberian and Italian peninsulas.

Feudalism & William the Conqueror

When the Vikings began their raids in the 800s, the Frankish kings were unable to defend their empire. Their army was too slow to defend against the lightning-fast attacks of their enemies. Because they couldn’t depend on protection from their kings, nobles had to defend their own lands. As a result, the power of nobles grew, and kings became less powerful. In fact, some nobles became as powerful as the kings themselves. Although these nobles remained loyal to the king, they ruled their lands as independent territories.

To defend their lands, nobles needed soldiers. The best soldiers were knights, warriors who fought on horseback. However, knights needed weapons, armor, and horses. This equipment was expensive, and few people had money in the early Middle Ages. As a result, nobles gave knights fiefs (FEEFS), or pieces of land, instead of money for their military service. A noble who gave land to a knight in this way was called a lord.

In return for the land, a knight promised to support the noble in battle or in other matters. A knight who promised to support a lord in exchange for land was called a vassal. The vassal swore that he would always remain loyal to his lord. Historians call this system of promises that governed the relationships between lords and vassals feudalism (FYOO-duh-lih-zuhm).

Feudalism was first created by the Franks. Before long the system began to spread into other kingdoms. In the 1000s, Frankish knights introduced feudalism into northern Italy, Spain, and Germany. Feudalism then spread into eastern Europe.

Feudalism also reached Britain in the 1000s. It was brought there by a French noble named William, who was the duke of Normandy in northern France, and who claimed a right to the English throne.

In 1066, William and his knights sailed into England and defeated the English king at the Battle of Hastings. After winning the battle, William declared himself the new king of England. He became known as William the Conqueror. To reward his knights for their part in the victory, William gave them large estates of land in his new country. This was the beginning of feudalism in England.

Knighthood, CHIVALRY, and HERALDRY

The Churches Rise to Power

During the early period of the Middle Ages, great nobles and their knights held a great deal of power. As time passed, though, this power began to shift. More and more, power came into the hands of two types of leaders, popes and kings. Popes had great spiritual power, and kings had political power. Together, popes and kings controlled most of European society.

In the Middle Ages, the pope was the head of the Christian Church in Western Europe. Since nearly everyone in the Middle Ages belonged to this church, the pope had great power. People saw the pope as God’s representative on Earth. They looked to him for guidance about how to live and pray. As popes worked to increase their power, they often came into conflict with kings.

Crusades

The Crusades were a long series of wars between Christians & Muslims in Southwest Asia. They were fought over control of Palestine, a region of Southwest Asia. Europeans called Palestine the Holy Land because it was the region where Jesus had lived, preached, and died.

For many years, Palestine had been in the hands of Muslims. In general, the Muslims did not bother Christians who visited the region. In the late 1000s, though, a group of Turkish Muslims entered the area and captured the city of Jerusalem. Pilgrims returning to Europe said that these Turks had attacked them in the Holy Land, which was no longer safe for Christians. Before long, the Turks began to raid the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine emperor, fearing an attack on Constantinople, asked Pope Urban II of the Roman Catholic Church for help. Although the Byzantines were Orthodox Christians and not Catholic, the pope agreed to the request.

Pope Urban called on Christians from all over Europe to retake the Holy Land from the Muslim Turks. He challenged Europe’s kings and nobles to quit fighting among themselves and fight together against the Turks. In response, people joined the pope’s army by the thousands. Crusaders from all over Europe flocked to France to prepare for their long journey.

Bubonic Plague

The Black Death was a deadly plague that swept through Europe between 1347 and 1351. The plague originally came from central and eastern Asia. Unknowingly, traders brought rats carrying the disease to Mediterranean ports in 1347. From there it quickly swept throughout much of Europe. Fleas that feasted on the blood of infected rats passed on the plague to people.

The Black Death killed so many people that many were buried quickly without priests or ceremonies. In some villages nearly everyone died or fled as neighbors fell ill. The plague killed millions of people in Europe and millions more around the world. Some historians think Europe lost about a third of its population—perhaps 25 million people.

The Magna Carta and King John

Beginning with William the Conqueror, the kings of England fought to increase their power. By the 1200s, the kings felt that they could do as they pleased, whether their nobles agreed with them or not. The kings’ attitudes upset many nobles, especially when kings began to create new taxes or take the nobles’ property. Some nobles began to look for ways to limit kings’ powers and protect their own rights.

In 1215 a group of nobles decided to force the king to respect their rights. In the middle of a field called Runnymede near London, they made King John approve a document they had written. This document listing rights that the king could not ignore was called Magna Carta. Its name is a Latin phrase meaning “Great Charter.” The Magna Carta required that everyone—even the king—had to obey the law. These were the first steps of many to limit the kings power.